Creating and Growing
a SI ProgramStudent Success at Purdue
International SI Conference May 24, 2014
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• 4-year land-grant institution
• 39,000 students – 30,776 undergraduates
– About 47% of our students get a degree in 4 years
– 69% graduate in 5 years, and 71% in 6 years
• Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program
– Begun in Fall 2011
– Initially Established/Guided by a SI Task Force
– Fall 2014: 18 different courses/26 leaders
Purdue University SI Program
Four Areas of Progress
Marketing the Program
Technology Innovations
Evidence of Success
Campus Partnerships
Fall 2013 SI Leaders
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• Develop a Strategy
• Build Trust
• Discover Needs
• Create and Communicate Value
• Manage Objections
• Ask for Action
• Deliver Value
Seven Selling Stages
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Sell the SI Culture • To advisors• To faculty• To students• To the Purdue
community
Develop a Strategy
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Discover Needs• End-of-semester student survey
–30% never heard of SI
• End-of-semester faculty survey–3 completed the survey
• Individual meetings with professors–40% understood what SI was
• Advisor contact –New advisors think SI is another form of
individual tutoring
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Create and Communicate ValueWhat’s the value of attending SI?Doing analogous problems
Having varied activities/reaching learning styles
Encouraging taking risks/mistakes welcome
Explaining it to peers in student speak
Discussing in small groups/examining why & how
Evaluating how someone else does it/comparing
Acquiring good study habits and solution tips
Making applications of concepts to new material
• Send information to SI-Linked professors– Faculty Agreement
– Faculty Brochure
– Two pieces of research
• Meet with professors individually in their offices– Provide an informational slide for PowerPoint and
a syllabus SI insert
– For large, multi-sectioned courses with recitations -attend the first TA meeting of the semester
Develop a Strategy
Must have an A or B in the course the potential leader wishes to supplement*
*Math leaders need to have higher level mastery
• MA 153 – Calculus 1 & 2 (223/4 ok)• MA 154/159 – Trig-based Calculus or 161/2
or 231/2 or equivalency • MA 161/2 – MA 261/2 or 265/6 or 366 or
303 or 304 or equivalent
Build Integrity
Build Trust among Faculty Let faculty set the prerequisites for leaders
Nominate leaders (if possible)
Assist with individual interviews for leaders in their course
Provide a set of problems for interviewees
SI Leader Training
Faculty Pizza Party
Send them a save-the-date memo
Send them a formal invitation
Send them a reminder two weeks before
Greet them as they arrive
Use this time for some faculty training
Thank them for coming
Faculty/Student Leader End-of-Year Luncheon
May 9, 2014
Recipients of Fun Awards at the Luncheon
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Myths about SI (from faculty)• The leaders just took the course, so how
can they possibly help their peers?
• The leaders are really teaching assistants.
• The sessions are simply recitations.
• There is no need for me to meet with the SI leader weekly.
• Only the good students attend SI
Manage Objections
Course HS GPA SAT (V+M) ACT
SI Non SI Non SI Non
Fall 2012
BIOL 110 3.70 3.61 933 959 25.6 25.9
CHM 116 3.68 3.64 924 952 25.2 27.0
MA 162 3.75 3.67 749 919 27.5 28.6
MGMT 200 3.57 3.53 865 924 24.9 25.8
PHYS 172 3.74 3.75 819 993 28.2 29.1
STAT 113 3.68 3.35 860 888 22.9 23.9
Manage Objections
Bold means difference between groups was significant at p<0.05
Bold Italic means difference between groups was significant at p<0.10
Spring 2013 HS GPA SAT ACTBIOL 111 3.68 3.72 976 985 24.9 26.8BIOL 204 3.65 3.61 897 871 25.3 25.3CHM 116 3.74 3.76 947 891 25.8 28.6MA 153 3.30 3.36 669 804 21.6 23.4MA 162 3.82 3.61 922 943 27.5 27.9
MGMT 200 3.55 3.59 798 911 25.1 26.2PHYS 172 3.82 3.76 834 906 28.9 29.4
Manage Objections
Bold means difference between groups was significant at p<0.05
Bold Italic means difference between groups was significant at p<0.10
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Faculty AgreementMeet weekly with the SI Leader at an agreed upon time and place
– Provide a course outline and advance notice of upcoming exams
– Provide advice and insight regarding the areas of content in which students often struggle
– Allow the leader to provide feedback from the sessions and from students attending
Ask for Action
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In their weekly meetings, SI leaders and faculty provide feedback to one another on the most difficult content, why it is difficult, and what strategies will help students better understand
it. Faculty appreciate feedback from leaders on the questions and difficulties students are having. Too often they hear such feedback only at the end of the term, when it is too late to make changes for that group of students. SI personnel are trained in processing content, facilitating group work, and developing curriculum. Through conversations with faculty they share these ideas. The most expert faculty realize that they must not only know the content but also know how to make the content understandable to all their students. (Zerger, 2006)
Encourage Action with Research
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When course instructors enthusiastically embrace SI and vigorously promote it during their lectures, regular attendance at SI sessions is higher than in courses in which this is not the case. It is therefore important for institutions to help faculty members understand the relationship between SI and student learning, and to disseminate information on how the SI program benefits the institution, the students, and the faculty. (McGuire, 2006)
Encourage Action with Research
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Myths about SI (from students)
• It’s just another form of tutoring.
• Students can just drop in any time for help.
• If the leader doesn’t do exact homework problems, how can this help?
Manage Objections
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Create and Communicate Value• Website www.purdue.edu/si–Student comments
–Faculty comments
–Key statistics
–Shots of students in actual sessions
–Leader introductions and pictures
–Video describing SI
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“What helped me the most at SI was the instructor [peer leader] asking questions like, ‘Why did you take that step there? Why didn't you do this instead?’ It really helped me to think about why I was taking the steps I did and why I was able to come to the answer that I did.”
Communicate Value
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Create and Communicate Value
Providing Interactive Study Sessions
BIOL 204 Session, Spring 2012
MA 162 Session, Spring 2011
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Communicate Approachability
• Website Makeover• Attendance Gathering• Sharepoint• Student Leader Resource Library• Student Leader Clerical Documents
• Session Changes and Announcements• Mobile Master Schedule – Boilerguide
Paperless Innovations
Data Base
Excel File
www.govconnection.com $47.09/each
Card Reader
Analysis
Magnetic Card Readers
Sharepoint
Sharepoint Sorting
Deliver ValueGrade Fall 2013 Aggregate Number of Sessions
0 1-2 3-4 5-7 8+
A 26% 31% 33% 38% 46%
B or better 55% 65% 73% 75% 76%
C or better 81% 89% 94% 95% 95%
DFW 19% 11% 6% 5% 5%
N= 7527 1548 356 232 322
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Deliver Value• Of the students who attended SI sessions
8 or more times . . . • 95% earned a C or better• 76% earned a B or better• 46% earned an A
Significant at the point of .001
• We recommend attending SI weekly!
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Number of Visits Semester
2,717 Fall 2011
4,522 Spring 2012
5,996 Fall 2012
5,659 Spring 2013
9,111 Fall 2013
7,232 Spring 2014
Showing attendance increases
Academic Year
CohortOne Year Retention
Rate
Two Year Retention
Rate
2011-12SI 95.15% 90.80%
Univ 90.57% 84.37%
2012-13SI 94.38%
Univ 91.01%
Helping the University Reach its Goals
2011-12 significant at the point of p<.001 both first and second year2012-13 significant at the point of p<.001 first year
Deliver Value – Prove Cost EffectivenessCumulative Tuition Generated by SI Retention
Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Spring 2013 Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Total
Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort
Retained 96 96 96 96 96 96
Revenue $0 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $1,874,720
Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort
103 103 103 103 103
$0 $409,539 $409,539 $409,539 $409,539 $1,638,155
Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort
149 149 149 149
$0 $657,055 $657,055 $657,055 $1,971,165
Delta Cohort Delta Cohort Delta Cohort
111 111 111
$0 $466,975 $466,975 $933,950
Epsilon Cohort Epsilon Cohort
215 215
$0 $986,230 $986,230
TOTAL $7,404,220
Deliver Value – Prove Cost EffectivenessForming PartnershipsCost-sharing with Colleges and Departments
Adding a leader to a course only after proving a needResults in steady growth of program
Partnering with the Math DepartmentSI/Tutor Hybrid
Cost-sharing 4 leaders
More Cost-sharing DevelopmentsMechanical Engineering Department – paying for 2 leadersSchool of Management – paying for 2 leadersComputer Science – still discussing arrangement for cost-sharing
Residential PartnershipsProviding space for SI sessions
Co-Rec PartnershipProviding space for some weekly study sessions
Recent Endowment specifically for SI from a chemistry professor
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Downey, S, & Downey, D. (2011). What Do Teachers and Salespeople Have in Common? CIEWorkshop Presentation, Purdue University, October 20, 2011.
Dwyer, F. Robert, Paul H. Schurr and Sejo Oh. (1987). Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships. The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Apr., 1987), pp. 11-27.
McGuire, S. Y. (2006). The impact of Supplemental Instruction on teaching students how to learn. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2006: 3–10. doi: 10.1002/tl.228
Zerger, S., Clark-Unite, C. & Smith, L. (2006). How Supplemental Instruction benefits faculty, administration, and institutions. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2006: 63–72. doi: 10.1002/tl.234.
References:
CHM 112 Office Hour, Spring 2013
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Contact:Ethel Swartzendruber
Senior Assistant Director of Student SuccessSupplemental Instruction Coordinator
Marta BauerAssistant Director of Student Success (SI)